October 6, 2016 - 1:25pm
How do you know when your starter is ideal for baking the best bread?
I was wondering if anyone could give me answer to this question. I just never know when its the best time to use my started in baking. For example an hour after feeding it, a couple hours after feeding it, 6 hours after feeding it, 12 hours after feeding it? In other words, when is the ideal time to use your starter for baking?
Share
Like most people I store mine in the fridge. I don't feed it. Best practice? Perhaps not. But it's still alive. A day or two before I want to bake, I take out a small amount and start building it again, feeding once every 12 hours or so. You can either build the same amount, discard and rebuild, or you can build in amounts that will add up to the amount of levain you want at the end.
Either way, you ensure that your starter is very active when you use it to inoculate your levain. Generally, it's ready when it has doubled or so.
I, too, keep my (liquid) starter in the fridge. Before baking I add a small quantity to a slurry of flour and water and let the mixture proof at 30° C.
Through trial and error I've found that a proofing period of less than 8 hours results in a less flavorful bread. More than 8 hours doesn't improve the flavor, so 8 hours is the amount of time I give it. The dough is likewise proofed for 8 hours at 30° C.
After countless test bakes I've found that elaborate feeding rituals in which a great deal of starter is wasted and time consumed, doesn't improve the finished product to a noticeable degree.
While the starter is proofing you could be autolyzing your dough.
Normally I use it when it peaks since there is the maximum number of yeast at that point. You can also use young starter to get less tang/sour flavor. But really, you can't say a time because it depends on how much you are feeding, how active your starter is, what temperature it is kept at, what flavor profile you want, etc.
The best method I have found is to drop a small amount of the starter into some water, if it floats it is ready, if it sinks then keep waiting.
I believe it works because of the gas held in the starter by the yeast. It hasn't let me down yet.
There are many guides to know.
1. Peaked
2. Passes the float test
3. Can double in atleast 4 hours (it'll take atleast a couple of builds to do this if you keep yours in the fridge and don't bake often plus the right conditions)
But don't forget that there will be variables. Not everyone keeps their starter the same. A very hydrated starter may not double. A very low hydration starter may more than double. Temperature and how much fresh flour will also affect the way your starter reacts.
However they're all looking for the same thing. It should be active, bubbly and mature. Strong enough to make good bread.
It is impossible to say when is the perfect time. After you read all of the above you will have begun to realize that. Basically if you have a well established, predictably active starter it's up to you. You will decide when you want to use it by regular practice. By that I mean you might like the flavour profile your bake exhibits by using your starter always at four hours , for example. On the other hand you maybe baking something that you want a very mild flavour profile and you will use it at two hours after refreshing. Maybe you want a real tangy flavour then you're going to manipulate your starter differently again.
Get to know your starter and take it from there.